Global Spending on Data Security to Reach $82 Billion in 2017

Worldwide spending on security-related hardware, software and services is forecast to reach $81.7 billion in 2017, on its way to $105 billion by 2020. That’s a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.7%, compared with a 2016 CAGR of 8.2%.

Three industries will account for nearly a third of spending on data security and two industries will see double-digit growth over the period.

The data were reported Wednesday by International Data Corp. (IDC). Program director Eileen Smith said:

The rapid growth of digital transformation is putting pressures on companies across all industries to proactively invest in security to protect themselves against known and unknown threats. On a global basis, the banking, discrete manufacturing, and federal/central government industries will spend the most on security hardware, software, and services throughout the 2015-2020 forecast. Combined, these three industries will deliver more than 30% of the worldwide total in 2017.

The industries forecast to grow spending the most are telecommunications (11.2%), state/local government (10.2%), health care (9.8%), utilities (9.7%) and banking (9.5%).

Spending on managed security services, integration services and consulting will account for $31.2 billion (38%) of the 2017 total. Network security (hardware and software combined) will be the largest category of security-related spending in 2017 at $15.2 billion, while endpoint security software will be the third largest category at $10.2 billion.

The largest market for security spending in 2017 will be the United States ($36.9 billion), followed by Western Europe ($19.2 billion) and Asia/Pacific excluding Japan. Large and very large businesses (more than 500 employees) will account for about two-thirds of all security-related spending for the forecast period. Very large businesses (more than 1,000 employees) are expected to pass the $50 billion spending mark on security-related purchases in 2019.